Many different types of dogs will come into your grooming salon, so it is essential to have a strong understanding of dog groups, coat types, and how to properly groom each pup so he can enjoy a healthy life. As with hearing, double merles can have eye problems that range from slight vision loss or unusual eyes, to complete blindness. Small studies of other breeds that can have the merle pattern found that they all had the mutated Silv gene. Dog Litter Separation – How To Handle Puppies Leaving Their Littermates, My Dog Wakes Up Too Early – 7 Tips to Change this Habit, How To Stop My Dog From Biting When Excited. As merles tend to be the rarest colour pattern in most breeds which carry the (M) gene, some unscrupulous breeders see breeding an entire litter of them in terms of money. The merle pattern is labeled “red” or “blue.” The merle forms of brown (or liver) are called “red” although red and brown are genetically different. In a wider context, such breeding brings the ethics of all dog breeders into question and casts a pall over the show dog world. The recessive red allele (“ee”) hides some merling. When two dominant “M” alleles are present the result is a double merle dog. How to know that your dog is unhappy Just as there are signs that your dog is happy, there are others that show that your dog is unhappy, sick, stressed, afraid or not emotionally alright. A mixed litter of puppies with non-merles (mm) and merles (Mm). Every Great Dane carrying the harlequin gene and the merle gene has a harlequin coat. If your double merle dog is sunburned, their skin appears pinker than normal. content, products, and resources as well as animal education; the information and content on breedingbusiness.com is intended Chihuahuas also come in merle but are rejected by the UK Kennel Club. Such breeds accepted by the American Kennel Club include: Merle pattern has been introduced to other breeds through crossbreeding. Laboratories such as the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory offer testing for the merle gene. They appear like a tri-colour dog (black, white and tan), but with patches of the black appearing 'faded' or grey. Is it safe to breed them? M/M (Double merle) This dog carries two copies of the dominant M. Dominant M will always be passed on to the offspring. It is inherited separately from merle. It also eliminates the risk of double merles (“M/M”) because only one dominant “M” allele is involved in the breeding. The merle gene dilutes random patches of a dog’s coat to a lighter color. Merle coat in dogs does not always mean that the dog is unhealthy. Microphthalmia is a defect wherein the eyes are smaller than normal. He's a good boy overall. Auditory Problems Congenital sensorineural deafness is directly associated with the merle gene . Ideally anyone selling a merle puppy should explain to the new owner the risks associated with breeding merle to merle, especially if that person already has a merle dog of the opposite sex to the puppy. There are also those that will cull obvious double merle puppies at birth, whether they have a health problem or not. While a non-merle dog (unless a cryptic) will have inherited no merle gene. These homozygous puppies are known as “double merles”, also written as “M/M.”. Merle forms of black are called “blue.” Blue merle dogs can be distinguished by the marbling of gray, silver and black in their coat with some copper points possible on the face. While a slightly smaller eye may not impede vision, many double merles have significantly smaller eyes which leads to varying degrees of sight loss. That being said, some double merle dogs do not suffer these problems. In certain breeds of dog, there is a coat pattern known as ‘merle’. However, this should not detract from the fact that many double merles suffer from eye or ear abnormalities due to their breeding. Sometimes dogs may appear to have normal coat colouring but are in fact merles and will produce puppies with the merle colouration. Sophie has been a freelance writer since 2003. Hemangiosarcoma and squamous cell carcinoma are just two possible results. Merle pattern can be masked by other genes or heavy patching. When a dog with the merle colouration (Mm) is bred to another merle dog then there is a chance that a double merle (MM) will be produced. Spreading the word about what a double merle is, is just part of the answer. Double merles are highly likely to suffer from eye or ear deformities (in some cases both), which at the most extreme can result in complete blindness and deafness. This includes double merles. Commonly merle dogs will have at least one blue eye, but in this example, due to the tan markings on the face, both eyes are brown. In the UK, double merles of any breed are not recognised by the Kennel Club, the UK's official governing body for dog breeding. If you own a double merle, it is highly recommended that you see a veterinary ophthalmologist at least once. The merle gene causes the coat hair to produce a faded, or shaded colour (hence the merle pattern), two merle genes together often cause the coat to be white or with limited merle shading. A merle coat in dogs is one of the most interesting and beautiful variations to come from breeding. Homozygous refers to the inheritance of the same allele from both parents. A blue merle is a black dog with the merle pattern; a red merle is a liver dog with the merle pattern. The exact reasons why the two merle genes together cause these problems remains unclear. The only way these people can be stopped is by bringing in legislation to stop puppy farming, but that is another issue entirely. Double merles are often partially or completely white in coat colour (sometimes termed albino, though this is not entirely accurate). Very imformative article. Some cases of the merle coat in dogs are masked by other genes. Important Disclaimer – This site does not intend to provide veterinary advice. This can produce a pup with a large amount of white (or all white coat). A dog that has very reduced merling that is nevertheless visible, such as a blue ear, isn't a cryptic merle. Your email address will not be published. Blue merles are, in fact, grey. The merle allele “M” is dominant and the non-merle allele “m” is recessive. Like people, a dog exposed to excessive sunlight will develop skin cancers, always use sunscreen to aid dogs with sensitive merle skin. Product availability and prices for Amazon Products displayed on this page are updated every half an hour and are subject to change. You Might Want to Think Twice About Double Merle Dogs Equally, though fewer studies have been done on eye conditions, double merles are very prone to various forms of eye deformities, right to the point of having very deformed eyeballs. The practice is controversial. Puppies with (MM) genes tend to have health issues, particularly with their eyes and ears. Phantom, cryptic or hidden merles may also be caused by a different mutation labeled as “Mc“. Other studies cited by the article found that the merle gene was associated with skeletal, cardiac and reproductive abnormalities, but there is far less conclusive evidence for this. It is not the same as co-dominance. I THOUGHT Chocolate is a dilute of Red.. so I wondered if because my dog is colored like this, that makes him a double dilute. Breeders may therefore try to pass off their double merle pups as a different coat colour that has not resulted from merle-to-merle breeding. Other double merles suffer from microphthalmia, where the eye is smaller than normal. An interesting article is at Clan Duncan Shelties Growl Pages - Seeing Double . Harlequin (“Hh”) and merle (“Mm”) are inherited separately but must work together. The double merle pattern is directly associated with ocular defects, auditory defects, and skin exposure that can lead to an increased risk of sunburn. However, some dogs will appear with the coat pattern of a normal merle (Mm), making it harder to determine if they are actually double merles. The merle coat pattern is popular because it is unusual and very unique, with each merle dog having a different coat pattern. Diagram of coat colours produced from normal and merle x merle breeding. She is passionate about history, the natural world, and her three dogs. Congenital sensorineural deafness is directly associated with the merle gene. Unfortunately, the intriguing dog merle coat is associated with several health problems. Price and availability information shown on Amazon at the moment of purchase will apply. This can lead to problems with vision when going from light to dark areas. Series of unbiased buying guides and reviews for dog breeders. This is because recessive red dogs do not produce eumelanin pigment, leaving them a solid red color caused by phaeomelanin. They can also, on occasion, have two brown eyes. This means that a double merle affected dog is more likely to suffer from congenital deafness. It absolutely depends on your future plans and what you want from a dog. It is not possible to tell if a Double Merle dog is deaf by looking at any visible hair on the ears (look through our Pictures page for examples). This means that a recessive red dog with the merle allele appears to have no merle. Double merle dogs are beautiful to look at, but expensive to care for. 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